About

Out of every resident in the small mountain town of South Park, Colorado, the most well-known is probably Eric Theodore Cartman, usually referred to only as ‘Cartman’. He’s just a normal fourth grader who appreciates the simple things in life - watching television, eating junk food, playing video games and the suffering of those he despises. Once described by a neighbor as “fat, racist, [and] foul-mouthed”, Cartman is also sadistic, sociopathic, selfish, narcissistic, and greedy, and frequently places his own desires, needs and reputation above all else in life. His decisions are almost always driven by his own material or personal desires, and often feelings like sympathy or guilt are completely foreign to him, with the upmost rare, genuine exception.

Greed

Cartman has often detailed his greatest desire since he was two years old, as being nothing less than ten million dollars, cash - and he is always willing to do whatever it takes, or to pursue any scheme, that will advance or achieve this end. Whether it’s hypothetically handling his grandfather's balls, leading a false religious movement, cheating at the Special Olympics, leading his friends to Somalia or just taking advantage of old people, nothing is beneath Cartman if ten million precious dollars (or, occasionally, Colonel’s Fried Chicken) are on the line. Of course, you need to spend money to make money - luckily, Cartman has access to his mother’s credit card and no shortage of creative and dangerous ways to spend or invest it, usually with the expectation of a handsome dividend.

Discrimination and Bigotry

No discussion of Eric Cartman can go by without covering his long and storied history of racial discriminatory behaviors, prejudice against various other groups, and other forms of bigotry. Taking responsibility for his actions is unnecessary when he can simply blame other groups for problems personal, local, national and even international in nature. Over the years, Cartman has exhibited anti-semitism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, internalized fatphobia, ableism, Islamophobia, unapologetic misogynism, racism towards African and Asian Americans, and also a particularly curious discrimination against Gingers, motivating the creation of a dangerous Ginger Separatist Movement. His hatred also extends to things as mundane as lines at amusement parks and the TV series ‘’Family Guy’‘.

The most prominent target of Cartman’s prejudice has been the Jewish religion, and he has often expressed beliefs in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and sympathy towards Nazi ideologies, including an open and unbashed admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. This bigotry has frequently manifested in bullying and hate crimes towards his Jewish classmate and nemesis Kyle Broflovski and occasionally Kyle’s mother and father. Cartman will never hesitate for a chance to humiliate Kyle or his religious beliefs, which is the backbone of many of their frequent disagreements. Cartman has even exhibited a desire to eliminate the Jewish people entirely from the face of the Earth, and was grounded for a few weeks for one such attempt. He did not learn a valuable lesson from the experience. He doesn't seem to be aware that Jesus Christ is actually a Jew and that the Romans mainly killed Jesus.

Of course, despite this divisive and inflammatory rhetoric against others, Cartman will always be happy to feign tolerance, or skew his views, if he can take advantage of group benefits or utilize them to his convenience. He has posed as mentally handicapped, imitated Tourette’s Syndrome, admitted his obesity to recieve a free mobile scooter and recently, posed as a transwoman, all to take advantage of benefits given to groups he has often spoken out against. When he became a possible target of his own movement, he began preaching love and tolerance for his own safety, a factoid that was not missed upon by those around him. Cartman even briefly converted to Judaism on one occasion, for fear of a vengeful God, but the development was not followed up upon.

However, Cartman’s greatest hatred is reserved only for the dreaded Hippies, a group he has studied extensively and is uniquely qualified to handle. Cartman has made multiple efforts to exterminate them in South Park to mixed success, but has often secured the popular support of the town in these efforts nonetheless. (Nobody likes Hippies.)

Personality

Despite his largely selfish, sadistic and sociopathic nature, Cartman is human nonetheless and a rare glimpse of such humanity will appear. He has soft spots for his stuffed animals, most notably his treasured Clyde Frog, as well as for cats, going to great lengths to protect Mr. Kitty when cats were banned in South Park, and eventually many members of the same species. He will often offer his services or assistance to those he respects, such as Rob Reiner, Mel Gibson or Billy Mays, with little to no expectation of benefit. Before his sudden sociopathic break through around season 5, Cartman was shown to care deep down about those close to him; such as Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Butters and Jimmy, as well as his mother and Chef although as stated this was during older seasons and he has grown a lot more sociopathic tendencies since then. He has been shown to feel no remorse when endangering his frenemies' lives during his Cthulhu-manipulating rampage, and will drop any friendship to further some sort of personal desire or materialistic item.
Out of all listed people, his mother seems to be the sole person he genuinely cares about in more recent seasons, although regardless his behavior towards her is far from kind.

When the boys were all in the third grade, they were far more immature and naive than they are now. Cartman’s bigotry often appeared rooted in gullibility and misunderstanding, often imitating or remarking upon things he had supposedly heard from adults, rarely stretching to outright malice. While Stan, Kyle and Kenny seemed to become less mischievous and greedy over time, Cartman has since become more rebellious and even more dangerous. While still the same spoiled rotten self around other children he is today, Cartman often cleaned up his act around adults and often sought their approval and even companionship as a sign of maturity. It wasn’t until Cartman’s faithful confrontation with Scott Tenorman in the fourth grade that he began to display a more outright sadistic and sociopathic streak and remains a formative moment for him as a character inside and outside the series’ universe.

Relationships

Cartman’s social standing at South Park Elementary has never been strong, and he is widely disliked amongst other students, many of whom have expressed displeasure at having to work with him on projects. He was voted ugliest boy in school on the un-doctored list and students cheered to watch Wendy Testaburger beat him up on the playground. Cartman has refused to believe others’ insistence that they do not like him, and remains convinced that he is very popular, and will do whatever is necessary to maintain that reputation. However, on many occasions, especially when up against outside threats, other students will turn to Cartman as a leader, whether it’s to acquire a list, find out which kid has lice, bully a new kid, or stand up to the new principal.

School faculty such as Herbert Garrison and Principal Victoria have increasingly acknowledged Cartman’s repeated offenses and often expressed exasperation with him, but other adult characters rarely acknowledge his history of negative behavior. His criminal record is notoriously extensive (as detailed below) but has rarely ever been dealt with beyond the occasional grounding or detention. Adults generally treat Cartman the same as other fourth graders, assuming the best in him. He has, in turn, cultivated the image of an innocent, weak, even “nerdy” little boy in front of adults as a defense mechanism against them, and even in hopes of accomplishing his goals. Though he had previously seemed interested in gaining their approval, more often today he merely seems to enjoy manipulating them.

Since the arrival of PC Principal in town, Cartman has been trying to turn his life around, admitting to his years of racial bias and prejudice and trying to turn himself around and become a better person...(at least to ward off the PC crowd and avoid being outted)
Though he continued to exhibited some discreet bigotry, his efforts to improve himself seemed to intensify when Skankhunt42 began to troll the school message and Cartman was widely suspected of his crimes. His attempts to defuse the complex situation failed, and he was eventually cut off from all forms of social media by his former friends. His budding relationship with Heidi Turner helped him find new purpose in life, but his hopes to colonize Mars eventually lead to the development of a newfound misogyny and fear of women.

Eccentricities

Cartman's psychology is complex, but reflects being the only child of a single mother. He has exhibited several signs of insecurity related to his lack of a father, including crying himself to sleep and being uncomfortable when reminded about it, while his mother often views him as a a friend instead of a son, only occasionally disciplining him. Though he denies it, he is often shown to greatly value his peers’ opinions of him and has gone to great lengths to try to impress them. He often tries to project an image of masculinity, and tries to hides or suppress signs of fear or weakness, such as being beaten up by a girl. It has also been sometimes implied his negative attitude may be influenced by other students’ bullying about his weight. His history of sexual abuse (see below) has also produced dangerous ideas of sexuality.

When his fragile psychological state is disrupted, his “mental gymnastics” try to pay respect his complex ego by placing himself at the center of attention, even in the most dangerous of situations, and when further disturbed, he often has tea parties with his stuffed animals, such as Clyde Frog, as a way of settling his mind... and while they mostly compliment him, even they seem to occasionally talk back to him. Whenever confronted with uncomfortable situations, he often creates highly dramatic and complex plans that often involve murdering the sources of his problems or those close to him, and framing Token.

By night, Cartman becomes the infamous and heavily trademarked superhero The Coon. He originally joined forces with the other boys to form Coon and Friends, but when they all turned against him, he teamed up with the Dark Lord Cthulhu instead. The ‘Coon’ brand remains important to him, and rumor has it that Cartman is planning to a massive superhero franchise with himself- er, his beloved character, at the center.

Notable Skills

Despite his selfish and lazy nature, Cartman has acquired a surprising number of diverse and specific skills over the years.

Emotional manipulation is Cartman’s trademark trick, and it rarely fails him when dealing with adults, whether it’s playing the victim to his convenience, flattering his foes into submission, just good ol’ fashioned blackmail, or just flat-out making things up, no form of manipulation is out of the question if it helps him achieve his goals, whether it’s acting shy and weak to get out of a fight or pretending to be cute to banish his friends to a dark oblivion. This is the skill that caught General Tso’s attention and lead Cartman to help rig an election.

His confidence and decisiveness often lend themselves well to positions of leadership within the kids, especially during tough times when the kids are working towards a common goal, such as retrieving an artifact, and the entire town followed his lead in repelling the dangerous hippie infestation incident. The other kids notably turned to Cartman for help against the threat of a new Principal.

Cartman is fluent in multiple languages, and has exhibited knowledge of English and Spanish on multiple occasions throughout the series, as well as a few nods to German (in “The Passion of the Jew” and “Funnybot”) and a hint of French.

Although Cartman usually has his mother do the cooking for him, if it serves a greater purpose, he’ll step up to the kitchen in himself, such as cooking hamburgers... but laxative-laced treats are a favorite revenge trick of his, as shown in “Bass to Mouth”. And some would tell you his chili recipe is positively to die for!

Cartman’s fighting ability is heavily disputed, but he usually wins through forms of deceit or intimidation, rather than for any sheer skill. He did seem to defeat Dr. David Nelson in a brawl at the playground on one occasion... on the other hand, Wendy gave him a beating to remember for making fun of breast cancer, the number of times Kyle has injured him is just too many to count, and PC Principal sent him to the hospital.

Perhaps most notably, Cartman has repeatedly displayed a talent for expressing himself in song and music - probably more so than any other character on South Park! His greatest hits include covers of “Come Sail Away”, and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”. (see below for more)

Fighting Record

As mentioned, Cartman’s fighting record is difficult to analyze. We’ve tried to compile a solid record here, but it’s not always easy to identify which fights should and should not count and who does or doesn’t win. This is more of a guideline than a

The Coon nobly defends the town against a ‘rapist’ during “The Coon”, and in addition to a passing reference to a ‘titty twister’ to Professor Chaos, he later defeats his lackey General Disarray, and then Chaos and Dissaray again while teaming up with Mysterion... none of these are clear-cut, so we’ll call it a DOUBLE VICTORY.

When Coon and Friends rebels against the Coon’s leadership in “Coon 2: Hindsight”, he achieves a DOUBLE VICTORY against both Mosquito and Mint-Berry Crunch as punishment for their treason... it doubles as a nod to ‘’A Clockwork Orange, too.

When Kyle refuses to buy Cartman the final Megaman he needs, and instead buys him ‘Ants in the Pants' in “Damien”, it's a VICTORY FOR CARTMAN!

We don't see the end results of their cafeteria brawl in “Tweek vs. Craig", so we're just going to call it a DRAW.

Over the course of “Trapper Keeper”, particularly after Cartman merges with the dreaded device, it’s up to Kyle to disable it... that’s a KYLE VICTORY, folks!

When Cartman suggests Stan and Kyle make out in “Super Best Friends”, they double-team him to kick him in the balls, leading to a nice STAN AND KYLE TAG-TEAM VICTORY.

We don’t technically see the whole beatkdown, but we’re pretty sure the conclusion of “Kenny Dies” is a KYLE VICTORY in spirit.

After being forced to have his face terrifyingly close to Cartman’s ass in “Fun With Veal”, Kyle has to take measures into his own hands when Cartman refuses to own up to his half of the deal... so Kyle wrassles him into submission. KYLE VICTORY!

Trying to trigger a Kenny vision from Cartman isn’t easy, but thanks to the heroic efforts of Kyle and some lumber to the back of his head, the boys found their golden tickets and won a candy shopping spree. That‘s one KYLE VICTORY for “A Ladder to Heaven”

Cartman’s hilariously feeble attempt to kill Kyle, and Kyle’s complete submission, makes “Toilet Paper” something of an odd draw... but since Kyle’s still alive, we’ll call it a KYLE VICTORY.

When Cartman challenges Kyle to a climactic face-off at Christmas in “It’s Christmas in Canada”, all it takes is one easy punch - that’s a textbook KYLE VICTORY.

It’s pretty obvious that the ‘accidental’ bloody nose while out snow shoveling in “Goobacks” is another solid KYLE VICTORY.

The most-hyped of all Kyle and Cartman battles comes to a heavy DRAW at the conclusion of their slap-happy smackdown “Cartoon Wars Part II”.

A playground beatdown in "Tonsil Trouble” has to be interrupted by the school faculty, but it’s a strong KYLE VICTORY nonetheless.

Although they fight at one point during “W.T.F.”, we better not go into that confusing brawl due to the mixed combatants.

Although it’s an easy and effortless KYLE VICTORY in “It’s a Jersey Thing” when Cartman talks about him being a Jersey traitor... it’s Cartman who uses that little 'scratch’ on his neck to an advantage in convincing Butters, Jason, Bill, Fosse, Dogpoo and Bradley Biggle that Kyle really is a traitor to their cause.

No, we’re NOT counting what happened to him with Snooki as a loss - rape doesn’t belong in this section. It’s listed under ‘Sexual Abuse’ (below)

It’s not really much of a fight, but Kyle pushes Cartman down on the playground in “Cartman Finds Love” when Cartman pretends they’re a gay couple, he ends up in the snow and doesn’t fight back. It’s a weak KYLE VICTORY.

Going over the statistics, Cartman’s record is pretty solid... but it’s nothing when he’s up against Kyle Broflovski, a champion in his own right, with THIRTEEN victories so far counted, a few draws, and only one flat-out loss against Cartman over twenty seasons of history and carnage.

Criminal Record

Despite being only ten years old, Cartman has an extensive and notorious criminal record, including five arrests.

Let’s kick off the long list with the LEAST severe thing Cartman’s ever done -- hitchhiking is illegal in many states, including Colorado, and Cartman hitchhikes in “Imaginationland” to make to Washington D. C..

Cartman has committed numerous instances of Vandalism over the years, such as breaking down a neighbor’s fence, toilet papering houses on multiple occasions, and destroying Butters’ property on multiple occasions out of frustration.

No stranger to the crime of Embezzlement, Cartman will stop at nothing to acquire some cash, such as pretending to be running a religious charity in the manner of a televangelist, opening his own false Church, performing miracles and asking kids for donations, and then bathing in said donations.

Cartman commits the similar crime of Credit Card Fraud' when he borrows his mother's credit card in multiple episodes, most notably “Fatbeard”, to pay for luxuries.

Blackmail has frequently been employed by Cartman as a tactic against his foes, most recently against PC Principal, whom Cartman tried to frame for molesting Butters Stotch so that they didn’t have to serve a detention. He also attempted to blackmail Captain Hindsight to join the Coon and Friends team.

This skill later saves the entire planet when Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny blackmail the Joozians with a photograph of two Joozian executives committing an alien sexual act, in order to keep them from destroying the Earth.

Like all members of the town of South Park, Cartman has been accused of Slander, and committed on dozens of occasions in some shape or form, but his most notable instance of slander was falsely accusing his mother of incestuous sexual abuse (“fucking” him) at Best Buy on national television in hopes of procuring a HUMANCENTiPAD.

Early in his criminal career, Cartman committed Plagarism by submitting ‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau with his own name to a contest, winning a celebrity appearance in town in “Weight Gain 4000”... he’s not improved much since, basing Faith +1’s entire career as a Christian rock group by reusing popular songs and changing the word ‘baby’ to ‘Jesus’.

There are a few instances of Cartman violating Pure Food and Drug laws - sometimes intentionally as an act of revenge or sabotage, like the laxative-laced foods he prepares in “Bass to Mouth”... or like his short-lived Cartman Burger business, where he prepared hamburgers for a false diagnosis with Asperger’s syndrome, and ended up selling multiple burgers to other townspeople that had been exposed to his flatulence... although that seems to be why they tasted so good. The customers seemed more sickened by the news than the food itself.

Cartman committed a disputed Hate Crime by throwing a rock at Token Black while playing, which lead to his first arrest and secured him a place in Juvenile Hall, where he befriended Romper Stomper .. he was successfully freed by Stan, Kyle and Token’s hard-fought efforts... he subsequently threw a rock at Pip Pirrup for being “French”.

Multiple acts of Arson can be prescribed to Cartman, many of them accidental... but perhaps the most surprising was when it was discovered that he had lit his family home on fire as part of an attempt to grow up by killing off his beloved stuffed animals.

The boys, lead by Cartman, have performed Unlicensed Surgery on Butters in order to remove excess fat as part of a scheme with the owner of City Wok... luckily, they escaped responsibility and Butters was grounded for it.

Cartman has submitted Falsified Evidence to the police before, most notably when posing as a psychic, using his falsified powers to frame others for the Left Hand Killer murders. He also anonymously reported a meth lab he had created as belonging to his mother so that he could be placed in a foster home - this lead to one of the few instances where Cartman was arrested by the Park County Police.

Add Theft to the rap sheet - most notably, Cartman stole the televisions of everyone in South Park on the night of the 2008 election, while everyone was either panicking or partying, so that he could sell the televisions the next day. He also shoplifts Vagisil in order to make himself stupid, but only because Butters didn't bring money with.

The boys committed grave-robbing when they used Cleo Broflovski's rooting corpse to scare the Fifth Graders on Halloween, unaware they were causing any broader harm... in a non-canonical deleted scene from “Dead Celebrities”, they were also to dig up the corpse of Michael Jackson to prove to his spirit that he was deceased.

Some of his actions could qualify as Animal Abuse, such as a claim he broke Kenny's Cat's leg, and some of his behaviors towards Mr. Kitty and Fluffy, though he generally seems to care about them and these instances are played for humor.

In the middle of the Beaverton disaster, Cartman found the time in his busy schedule to commit Armed Robbery at gunpoint against Kyle for his ‘Jew Gold’, which Kyle reluctantly hands over after a decoy bag. In the distant future, he also robs two kids playing with a Crank Prank Time Phone with a laser gun.

Speaking of which, his familiar Glock pistol was acquired illegally in “Wing" and therefore Cartman is in violation of Firearm Possession laws.

Cartman has learned much from his Mission Impossible Breaking and Entering playset, and has admitted to breaking into Kyle's room “loads of times”, from the first season on. His criminal skill was so valuable Stan, Kyle and Butters sought his playset and skills in infiltrating a veal ranch... not to mention the aforementioned theft of televisions neighborhood-wide.

Whenever possible, Cartman will avoid the consequences of his actions... so it should come as no surprise that Resisting Arrest is on this list. Kenny’s batter-operated Go-Go Action Bronco lead the Park County Police on a chase to the Mexican border, and he ran through Casa Bonita with knowledge of his upcoming arrest, trying to make the most of his moments of freedom.

Knowledge of complex and inhumane Torture Methods is familiar to Cartman, who was authorized by the United States government to drink apple juice and fart on Mr. and Mrs. Hakeem until they confessed their son’s whereabouts.

He used similar methods on Billy Turner when he called Cartman ‘chubby’, tying him to a flagpole ala the ‘Saw’ films and suggesting Billy had to cut his foot away.

Cartman’s complex web of deception towards Butters in “Casa Bonita” leads to him being declared a missing child... when Butters is finally discovered, Cartman is placed under arrest by the Park County Police on Kidnapping charges.

The mighty Professor Chaos was also imprisoned in the Coon's basement for several days for the protection of humanity during the Coon saga... well, that's Cartman's version of the story. The forceful confinement of Butters Stotch is a recurring crime of his.

His superhero alter-ego The Coon has secured Cartman a strike for Vigilantism, though the police force overlooked this in his debut episode.

Speaking of alter-egos, thanks to Ming Lee, Cartman could technically be considered guilty of Prostitution, and has also imitated a prostitute on two separate occasions - once for an undercover operation, and one for fame and glory on Maury.

Involvement with drugs is familiar to the Cartman family, many members of whom use crack cocaine... so it’s no surprise he used this accessibility to fund his Crack Baby Athletic Association, handing it out to recovering addicts in an excuse to use their children, which is classified by some as Slavery or Child Abuse, in addition to the less ambiguous felony Drug Possession with intent to distribute...

And, if we count the Colonel’s Chicken ban in South Park, he’s also guilty of Smuggling, having gradually become the leader of an underground chicken smuggling ring.

Cartman’s involvement with Colonel’s Chicken wasn’t his first experience with Organized Crime either, having previously tried to work with Loogie on such a scheme to swindle money off kids' tooth fairy money for a Sega DreamCast.

We don't know the details of the cheesing ban law that Kyle's Dad had passed, but if we count cats as drug contraband, Cartman is once again guilty.

His involvement with Piracy involved two events in quick succession: heading to Somalia with classmates in a bid to become feared Somalian Pirates under his leadership, and later, joining Stan Marsh’s violent but entertaining anti-whaling crew, in a bid to get on television. Despite being mostly un-involved, he is arrested by the Japanese authorities along with Stan and Kenny. He hasn’t sailed the high seas since.

Cartman has manufactured and created a number of Induced Panics over the years, most notably in “World War Zimmerman", when he causes dozens of deaths, directly and indirectly, in his paranoia about a “virus” he ascribes to Token Black and later, George Zimmerman, despite no virus existing or occurring.

While he has plotted against the United States government on multiple occasions, the highest instance of Treason committed by Eric Cartman was his interference with the United States presidential election, 2012, where he stole presidential ballots from key swing states to ensure the false election of Barack Obama.

Combine this with War Crimes and you'll get Cartman's ill-fated rebellion against the United States government under the guise of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, where he lead his drunken soldiers, men and children, and promised them “plunder and women”.

Cartman has encouraged others to commit Suicide on multiple occasions, and South Park Elementary held him responsible, particularly, for the suicide of a student named Cory Doran, spear-heading a campaign to make fun of him. The incident was so severe the teachers tried to prevent the same fate from befalling Pete Melman, leading Cartman to give laxatives to Jenny Simons... making her shit her pants, and leading her to attempt suicide. He also sent false text messages to the wife of a psychologist who had called him fat, causing her to kill herself over the phone.

Cartman committed Vehicular Manslaughter of multiple NASCAR drivers and fans, including over eleven people and Danica Patrick, in “Poor and Stupid”... as an underage driver, albeit a highly-sponsored one.

On multiple occasions, Cartman has attempted Murder, most notably against his classmate Token Black in “World War Zimmerman”, whom he deceived and then shot at point-blank via a ‘stand your ground’ law. He gave serious consideration to murdering his mother in “Tsst”, when she ceased catering to his needs, and was stopped with knife in hand. He has threatened to kill Stan, Kenny, Butters and most prominently, Kyle, on numerous occasions, though he has only occasionally tried to follow through on these threats, most notably in “Toilet Paper”.

Cartman has never successfully murdered anyone himself, but he did cross the line into pre-mediated Murder, if via proxy, with Jack Tenorman and his wife... by reporting them as violent criminals to Rancher Bill Denkins, leading him to fatally shoot them. He also committed Inteference with a Criminal Investigation when he stole their remains to ground them up into chili and fed them to their son as part of a revenge plot, adding enforced Cannibalism to our list. This is, to date, the only successful and pre-meditated murder that could ever be traced back to Cartman.

He also indirectly and impulsively committed Manslaughter while serving on the U. S. Border Patrol by tasering a group of Mexicans whom were soaked in water, electrocuting them instantly.

Though it’s safer not to hold it against him canonically, he’s been responsible for some of Kenny’s deaths, accidental or otherwise, such as hitting him with a frying pan in “Timmy 2000” while hallucinating.

In a flashback dream sequence, he brutally killed a messenger boy to the first Continental Congress.

Cartman had compared his own actions to Terrorism on multiple occasions, and is more than happy to use fear to get whatever he wants... threatening to bomb a hospital to unmask Mysterion’s secret identity, terrorizing a FedEx building with other angry people, or most notably, threatening to kill Doug the President of FOX if he didn’t pull an episode of “Family Guy”.

He also commits notable Medical Terrorism when he intentionally infects Kyle with the AIDS virus in “Tonsil Trouble” after previous threats to do so, angered that Kyle did not take his diagnosis seriously.

Perhaps a special note should be reserved that in “Naughty Ninjas”, Cartman actually speaks with the Leader of ISIS and they come to many agreements, particularly about the Jewish people.

One of the greatest crimes against humanity known to man, yes, Cartman has even attempted the Genocide of the Jewish people, most notably by leading a march in “The Passion of the Jew”... an incident that landed him a severe grounding. He’s not given up hope, and implored the dark and mighty Cthulhu to destroy the Jewish race as well, as well as the Hippies.

Favorite Foods

Far more than any other regular character in the show, Cartman is depicted eating. His obesity is largely treated as caused by his sheer gluttony more so than any kind of genetics, and he seems to lose body weight quickly in situations where he can’t eat whatever he wants.

We’ve mentioned elsewhere in this article that Cartman’s favorite meal is generally Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken, a favorite since his childhood before the show began, and when the restaurant was banned in Colorado, not only did he show multiple signs of addiction, including withdrawl, but he displayed an uncanny ability to discern KFC from other restaurants’ gravy.

He’s also displayed a general, non-specific fondness for Mexican food, though no loyalty to any restaurant - he’s eaten at such Mexican food restaraunts as La Taco, Chipotle, Taco Bell, El Pollo Loco, and La Nueva Familia but by far, his favorite restaraunt of all-time is the Mexican-themed restaurant Casa Bonita, but it’s far more than the food that draws Cartman back there again and again.

When the boys were in the third grade, Cartman’s favorite snack was unquestionably Cheesy Poofs, a Canadian brand of cheese puffs, often eating them on the couch as early as the show’s first episode. He notably went to great lengths to secure a brief appearance in one of their television commercials. Their origins were explained in an early draft of the movie but later cut, and the snack’s use has declined considerably since. “A History Channel Thanksgiving” depicts the only instance of Cartman eating them since the show’s ninth season.

Despite this, Cheesy Poofs remain iconic and recognizable to even the most casual South Park fan, and they’ve been marketed as a real snack on occasion, most recently in 2011.

Additional items:

Cartman’s mentioned a love of Chicken Pot Pies, including Chocolate Chicken Pot Pies, on more than one occasion. (Cartman Gets an Anal Probe)

Don’t forget Powdered Donut Pancake Surprise, a special item that dates back to the very first episode, but has reappeared as late as “Raising the Bar”.

History of Sexual Abuse

Cartman has undergone extensive sexual abuse throughout his life and has been victimized (or survived attempts to victimize him) by adults on numerous occasions throughout the series, often but only at the hands of adults, which seem to have traumatized him. We’re not even trying to be funny about this here.

He, at some point in the past, touched wieners with one of his cousins. (Le Petit Tourette)

He implied on one occasion that he had been forced by his mother to watch her have sex with an unidentified man, while Cartman was dressed as a mailman. (An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig)

He participated in an online chat with a number of pedophiles online who sent him sexual messages and offered to meet him in real life. As a member of their organization, NAMBLA, he posed for posters. (Cartman Joins NAMBLA)

At Cartman’s own insistence, he and his classmates have exposed their penises to each other and measured them for accuracy. (T.M.I.)

Cartman has been heard shouting “Paula Poundstone, leave me alone!” and “No, Uncle Jesse, no!” while waking up from sleep on different occasions, though these are pop cultural references and may not necessarily be sexual or even canonical.

As a result of these experiences, Cartman has consistently displayed several misconceptions and negative feelings towards sexual behavior, often equating any such behavior with rape and sexual assault, most notably mistaking a consensual kiss as a rape in “The Coon”, and exhibiting a similar assumption in “South Park: The Fractured But Whole”, where he suggests sex between two parents is a traumatic experience, and a breach of trust, and seems unaware of the relationship between sex and pregnancy.

He has also indicated an association of oral sex as a form of humiliation, not only in his catchphrase “suck my balls” but more dramatically in “Go God Go” and the “Imaginationland” episodes, but even exhibits repeated confusion as to why Kenny would desire oral sex for pleasure from his girlfriend in “The Ring”.

Catchphrases

Cartman has coined a number of memorable and iconic phrases since the show’s very first episode that have helped to cement his status as the series’ most popular character and a pop culture icon. Since the early second season, they have often appeared in merchandising for the show, and sometimes appear in other media to reference South Park. They are even sometimes used by other characters, like Stan, Kenny, or Clyde.

In recent years, Matt and Trey use these phrases much more rarely, but Cartman still uses them on occasion.

Life Lessons

"Drugs are bad because if you do drugs, you’re a hippie, and hippie suck.”

"It’s a man’s obligation to stick his boneration into a woman’s separation. This sort of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation”

"I'm gonna spend my whole childhood eating what I want and doin' drugs when I want! WHATEVER! I will do what I want!"

"Heaven could be like the pixie fairies of Bubble Yum™ Forest. You only see them if you really believe in them”

"We're in this together, Craig! If Butters tells on us then we're gonna tell on you. That's the Ninja code!"

"These are what we call giggling stoners. Pretty common form of hippie usually found in the attics. Problem is, if you see one hippie, there’s probably a whole lot more you’re not seeing”

"What awaits each person in heaven is eternal bliss, divine rest, and ten thousand dollars, cash.” *"Stan, don't you know the first law of physics? Anything that's fun costs at least $8."

"Everyone knows that only poor people get lice."

"Real guitars are for old people."

"Okay, our mission failed but we learned a lot. Primarily that girls do not have balls”

"Remember Bill Beelicheck. Head coach of the New England Patriots. He’s won three Super Bowls. How? He cheated. He even got caught cheating and nobody cared! He proved that in America, it’s aright to cheat, as long as you cheat your way to the top”

"Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, and do whatever you want all the time, you could miss it."

"I’d rather us be Chinese than A NATION OF UNETHICAL DICK SHOOTERS. Think about it”

"This just goes to show that hard work doesn’t pay off. I’m going to be a homeless drug addict from now on!”

“Kyle, that's the way the world works! If you wanna find some quality friends, you gotta wade through all the dicks first!”

“Don‘t ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, that‘s just how he seems to be rolling right now.”

“Even if I don’t agree with his hateful bigoted thoughts... it doesn’t mean I’ll stand by while Kyle’s intolerance is dealt with violently.”

“Sometimes joking about un-PC things can actually be important, because it starts a dialogue.”

"I guess just because I don’t understand [homosexuality], doesn’t mean I can’t support it.”

”Girls rule, women are funny, get over it.”

"I guess I didn't deserve a second chance."

"I don't have any friends. I don't know if I ever did."

Greatest Hits

It's surprising to everyone, but Cartman actually has quite the singing voice -- you can rock out with some of his greatest hits right here!

Family

Though Cartman has a huge extended family, he's only ever lived with his loving, doting mother Liane Cartman, who often bends over backwards for whatever her muffin wants in exchange for his company, and their pets Mr. Kitty and the rarely-seen pot-bellied pig Fluffy. The identity of Cartman's father was a closely-guarded secret in the town until a series of conspiracies eventually revealed the true father's identity. (see below)

Extended Family

The extended Cartman family mostly lives in Nebraska and share many similar phrases and mannerisms to him, including a strong family history of obesity, save only Cartman's mother, Liane and Cousin Alexandra. His grandmother, Mabel Cartman loved him dearly despite his many imperfections, but died when he was eight years old. She left him one million dollars since the rest of them would presumably spend it on crack. They are also all quite close with convicted murderer Charles Manson, who they visit every year at Christmas. He touched weiners with one of his cousins, but something tells us it's not Alexandra.

Ex-Girlfriend

Eric Cartman has a surprising history with Heidi Turner that goes back quite a while.

When Cartman began to lead a Church in South Park at the end of the kids' third grade year, he attracted the attention of kids far and wide throughout the town including a girl named 'Marcy'. The church ended up to be a get-rich-quick scheme resulting in her father's death.

Heidi and Cartman were later partnered for the fourth grade egg project and despite a mutual dissatisfaction with the initial choices, the two took care of their egg. When Cartman damaged the egg, he asked Mrs. Garrison to give Heidi a better grade in hopes of averaging it for both of them, it's still altruistic by Cartman standards. On a side note, he received four days of detention from PC Principal for referring to Heidi as "clitty litter".

When the girls were harassed online by a troll named skankhunt42, Heidi was the first to openly accuse Cartman of being behind it despite his denial. The troll's continued abuse eventually drove Heidi to quit Twitter and the to would later form an unlikely friendship when Cartman was cast out of social media by his friends. Apologizing for her earlier accusations, they began comfort each other over the isolation they found themselves in.

They took their relationship to a new level when Heidi settled Cartmans dilemma as to whether girls do have balls. The experience of seeing hers in the dark with a flashlight triggered a spiritual awakening for Cartman and they officially became a couple. The two of them constantly held hands hang out and referred to each other by pet names like "boo" or "babe". Despite the disgust and disbelief of their classmates Heidi and Eric would defend each other and work to create positive changes in the school.

However Cartman's history could not be kept hidden forever as the program TrollTrace's capability could expose his lies to his girlfriend. Fearfully, Cartman convinced Heidi that they could reach Mars, and be happy without social media or internet once again. During these events Butters at first intensifies Cartman's fears but later unclouded his perception of hi relationship with Heidi, he becomes convinced Heidi, and all women, are not only not funny but conspiring against them. Cartman begins to revert to his old ways as they put their plans on hold and go back home.

Heidi and Cartmans' relationship took a rocky turn as Cartman could no longer stand Heidi, convincing his friends she was mentally abusive. He would even go so far as to nearly kill her by pushing her in front of a car and by having a witch try to abduct her (because of her lack of time management skills). Heidi however remains with him in part due to his threats to kill himself if they ever break up but also as a reaction to the constant criticism she gets from her friends causing her to double down. Eventually she attempts to avoid this by adopting Cartman's views, further alienating herself from the people who care about her.

Despite trying to help Cartman for the better, Heidi ending up becoming more like her boyfriend herself, adopting his attitude and becoming fat and self loathing. She began to adopt his self-loathing and bad attitude and by blaming everything else instead of her toxic relationship, Heidi fell in a downward spiral with only her boyfriend and the torment of others to sustain it. Only after an adventure with the boys in which she visited the places in which her romance with Cartman was born was she able to reflect on her relationship and how it transformed her for the worse, leading her to take personal responsibility by leaving Cartman and the victim-hood lifestyle behind for a more positive future.

Other Past Love Interests

Cartman has had his fair share of crushes, admirers, and attractions... though there's still a lot of confusion over his exact sexual identity. (see 'Cartman's Sexuality' below)

When Cartman suffered from Tourette's Syndrome, and began making spontaneous confessions of dark secrets, he suddenly admitted in front of hundreds of people to having a crush on Patty Nelson and that he 'fantasized' about kissing her, a secret that mortified both individuals. Patty has not been seen since. Cartman also displayed an attraction, along with the other boys, to substitute teacher Ms. Ellen and his classmate Bebe Stevens after she began to develop.

Though Cartman repeatedly refused Cupid Cartman's affectionate advances, insisting that he wasn't homosexual, when the fate of Tweek and Craig's relationship was on the line, Cartman bit the bullet and agreed to go on at least one date with Cupid Cartman, which was soon followed by a massage and a sexual encounter... the exact nature of their relationship is unknown, but they don't seem to be serious just yet.

Romantic Rivalry

Cartman has always had a rivalry with the intelligent and level-headed Wendy Testaburger, his buddy Stan's girlfriend and one of the smartest students at South Park Elementary. They argue in class on a frequent basis, and he has targeted her for humiliation on more than one occasion. They can also be very competitive, particularly over the "Save Our Fragile Planet" contest as well as the student body presidency. She has in turn become quite adept at dealing with him, whether it's a matter of fact-based debate, an ass-kicking to remember, or just out-smarting him on school access television. Even when he spends much of his time booing her and accusing her of being a liar, she's not afraid to agree with him on the odd event.

However, on the rare occasion when they found themselves on the same side in the Great Flag Debate, they swapped debate tactics, shared some quadruple-stuffed oreos, and developed a bit of an attraction... which lead to an uncomfortable, public kiss at the Debate. Their attraction to each other flamed out afterward, the "sexual tension" resolved, and Wendy later voted Cartman last in the List of Cutest Boys.

Usually, Cartman is never afraid to tease her for her liberal beliefs and she certainly isn't afraid to throw down when he steps out of line.

Arch Rival

While all four boys have been through adventures over the years and share similar goals of wealth and popularity, there is no weaker link between the four than the often intense rivalry between Cartman and Kyle. While the latter sees himself as more moral and philosophical, often trying to take the safest and most logical route, the notoriously stubborn and selfish Cartman will take what he wants by any means necessary, a common source of conflict between the two. Though they have been shown on rare yet notable occasions to be on civil terms, Cartman often shows an extremely sadistic and hateful side towards Kyle and will stop at nothing to humiliate him, and Kyle in turn often sees humiliating Cartman as morally justifiable, particularly given his anti-semitism. The two have also been known to make bets with full intent of humiliating one another, such as the loser having to pay a sum of money, being each other's slave or on one famous occasion, suck the winner's balls. Cartman in particular takes extreme pleasure in Kyle's suffering- going as far as to break him in Ginger Cow and even fantasizing about his tears, oddly enough. Cartman himself has shown a disturbing lack of care for Kyle's wellbeing as well; whether it be laughing at his bodily mutation from a certain apple company, or offering him up to a room of very angry Germans.

Cartman and Kyle have come to blows on multiple occasions, mostly notably after Cartman and Butters broke into the Broflovski Residence to infect Kyle with the HIV virus, when they had to be broken up by Mr. Mackey, as well as the FOX headquarters when they came into conflict over a controversial Family Guy episode, and after Kenny McCormick's death and funeral, when Cartman used stem cells to create a new Shakey's Pizza. Despite hatred, when the two boys can set their differences aside, and a common goal is clear in sight, Cartman and Kyle can make incredibly strong allies, although this always seems to disband one way or another. They do have some common interests they do not share with Stan and Kenny in the same fashion, such as Faith Hilling and the Xbox One, and also share a particular shared business talent that is displayed both in their time together working at the Crack Baby Athletic Association and during their time at the Washington Redskins start-up company, where they even lead a high-profile press conference together. They maintain a surprising degree of tolerance for one another, with Kyle in particular continuing to feel sympathy for Cartman and his moments of plight despite their problems, and Cartman recognizing Kyle’s assets for various schemes, allowing no bathroom break stop him.

Another thing to note is Cartman's obsessive hatred with Kyle. Although hating his opponent dearly, when faced with the possibility of loosing him permanently from the horrors of San Francisco, he's willing to save him to avoid boredom and have an entertaining rival to torment once more. Kyle himself is willing to save Cartman as well, although for significantly less selfish reasons. Although loathing him with all his heart, Kyle is willing to compromise it all in order to see Cartman do the right thing once in his life- although he may be too optimistic in that regard.

Rumors of a relationship have been spurred by Cartman on occasion but have never been endorsed by Kyle in any way, shape or form.

Best Friends

Cartman's closest friendships are those with Kenny McCormick, his official best friend forever, and Butters Stotch, his most loyal lackey and henchman.

While the foundation of Butters and Cartman’s relationship has largely been driven by Cartman’s selfishness and Butters’ kind, earnest desire to listen to his problems, comfort him after his failures, help him with any scheme he suggests and allow himself to be manipulated in unspeakable ways, the two have gradually the two boys have developed a genuine friendship over the years and Butters’ naivete seems to have invited Cartman to trust and confide in him in ways he rarely has with the other boys. Butters has picked up a number of habits from Cartman both positive and negative, including transphobia and misogynism, but has also notably pushed back on occasion and stood up to Cartman.

On the other hand, while they often insult one another openly, with Cartman once declaring his hatred of Kenny purely because they were alone together, a close friendship nonetheless exists between both boys, and they have considered themselves each other’s best friend for years. Before his complete transformation into the vile sociopath we know today, Cartman had mourned at Kenny’s funerals, and exhibited concern over his well-being.
Even after his alteration of character, Cartman has admitted multiple times at his deathbed that he felt both him and Kenny were best friends. Kenny as well also mentions in his will that he “feels sorry for [Cartman]” and leaves him his most valuable possession. While Stan and Kyle often bond over mutual trust and similar beliefs, Kenny and Cartman often seem to bond over vices and mischief. They have shared secrets, such as when they borrowed Stephen Stotch's drone, and have also been to Casa Bonita together on occasion... but often disagree nonetheless, most notably during the bitter Console Wars, and of course, on the methods of superheroism, coming to a head when Cartman teamed up with the mighty Cthulhu.

While most episodes depict the boys as ignorant of Kenny's deaths, Cartman has acknowledged them more than any other character on the show, openly mentioning that he "dies all the time" on one occasion, though this has not been fully consistent. He has also been visited by Kenny's spirit after his passing, and after mistaking his ashes for chocolate milk mix, hosted Kenny's spirit for several episodes during the sixth season.

Close Friends

Besides his stuffed animals, who were mostly tragically murdered, with only Polly Prissy Pants confirmed alive, and Antonio Banderas preferring to keep to himself in the basement, Cartman has precious few close friends.

Certain people throughout town are generally willing to put up with him for the most part, such as Stan and Jimmy, though even they get fed up with his bullshit sometimes. Clyde and Cartman have a mutual understanding of body-shaming and are also close -- Clyde not only often goes along with Cartman's schemes, but defended him from the other kids more than once, became worried when Cartman fought Wendy, and nearly destroyed the entire town in retaliation when Cartman - er, the Grand Wizard King - banished him from space and time.

Nonetheless, these three, along with Kyle, Butters, and Craig Tucker turned on him and destroyed his electronic media in retaliation for their belief he was an internet troll, Cartman's friendships with them seemed to come to a mutual end, and he told Heidi Turner that he has no friends... prompting a friendship to blossom between the two of them. (see 'Girlfriend' above.)

It should be noted that Cartman maintained a friendly relationship with his neighbor Chef until the latter's departure and later death, crying when he left town and admitting to Butters that he genuinely cared about him. Chef also played a crucial role in curing Cartman when Kenny's soul was trapped inside his body. Chef is the only recurring character besides Cartman's mother he has ever shown any selfless interest toward. Jimbo Kern, Ned Gerblanski and Dr. Alphonse Mephesto have shown sympathy for Cartman on multiple occasions as well. He and Stan's sister Shelly Marsh learned to get along over their mutual love of making people, like Shelly's asshole ex-boyfriend, miserable.

We've never met Toby and Lawrence, but Cartman has some annoying but friendly cell phone conversation with the two of them in "Let Go, Let Gov", much to Kyle's annoyance.

The exact status of some of these friendships has been in dispute since Season Twenty, so consider it historical:

Classmates

As a general rule, his classmates hate Cartman on a normal day, but when things get tough at South Park Elementary, they aren't afraid to turn to him when they need his skills in combat, weaponry and leadership.

Rivals

Cartman has made a number of enemies over the years, particularly local authority figures and older kids... but his arch-nemesis is considered Scott Tenorman, a ninth grader who scammed Cartman out of his allowance for fake pubic hairs. Cartman's retaliation is a local legend... and ever since then the two have battled through time and space in a quest for vengeance against each other.

Role Models

Cartman has had a number of terrible role models in his short life. He was introduced to German dictator Adolf Hitler, albeit unintentionally, by Principal Victoria in "Pinkeye" and has since modeled him on multiple occasions. After the release of 'The Passion of the Christ', he spent a few weeks emulating director Mel Gibson as well, even seeming to pray to him, until he found out Gibson was actually mentally insane. He also emulated actor and director Rob Reiner for a week, admiring his ability to impose his will on others. Cartman also forged a close relationship with his idol Colonel Harlan Sanders when he participated in the Fried Chicken business, but the two later had a falling out.

Cartman has also exhibited an admiration for the New England Patriots football team, most notably Coach Bill Belichick and their quarterback Tom Brady, particularly how they cheated to get to the Super Bowl in the past and their “fuck the rules” attitude. He notably compared himself to Brady when dealing with PC Principal. Like Cartman's friends, he is a fan of Terrance and Phillip.

It’s also notable that Cartman was very fond of promoter Billy Mays, and was perfectly willing to help Kyle and his brother if it meant helping his deceased idol cross on to the next plane of existence. Cartman’s worship is a powerful thing indeed.

We've since learned he also 'loses his fucking mind' whenever he sees Amy Schumer perform stand-up comedy and talk about her vagina, which seemed to be a motivating factor in his shift in attitude towards women's comedy.

Alter Egos

More than any other character in the show, Cartman has created dozens of alter-egos, false identities and costumes - many chiefly to serve his own goals and purposes, such as pretending to be handicapped to win in the Special Olympics and a cash prize, or pretending to be a robot manufactured in Japan in order to humiliate Butters. Each alter-ego has a unique, detailed backstory and a costume lovingly crafted by his mother. One of these most notable of these identities, however, is the superhero The Coon, who seeks nothing less than fame, glory, and global merchandising rights.

Not every alter-ego is so easy to explain though. Nobody's sure where Cartman's very own Cupid "Me" came from, and Hennifer Lopez and Mitch Conner seem to have a mind all their own, rhat is determined to run off with Ben Affleck regardless if Cartman gives his legal constent. Ming Lee, meanwhile, brought on by head trauma, seems to have a preference for Leonardo DiCaprio, who pays her handsomely for her services. Whether the sexual encounters his alternate identities experience reflect on Cartman, we're still figuring it out, but neither of them can be counted for processed affirmative consent forms.

Click on the alter-ego to visit their page, with more detailed information on their personaliy and adventures, or to visit the episode/storyline they came from:

Celebrity Egos

Dressing up as celebrities, whether it's for fun times, or just for... personal reasons... is another favorite hobby for Cartman, who loves to use these costumes to parody them and/or try to emulate their lives... or, in Gordon Ramsay's case, just trick Stan's Dad so the school cafeteria food can go back to normal.

Of course, none of Cartman's parodies is more famous than Butters' video of him dressed as pop star Britney Spears and dancing with a cardboard cutout of her then-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. Whether he was just dedicated to playing the part, or might actually have a thing for Timberlake, nobody's sure.

Halloween Costumes

Cartman is always willing to wear spooky Halloween costumes when he goes out trick-or-treating, even if they're not always politically correct, but he's not usually gone to the extra mile of giving them a rich backstory.

Phone Destroyer Outfits

Other Outfits

While many of the above costumes from Cartman represent alternate personalities or detailed creations, with their own histories and backstories, most of the below outfits lack the special background, but many of them remain worth documenting (or merchandising) nonetheless.

Couples Costumes

In keeping with Cartman's tradition of special, bizzare costumes, he often makes similarly matching costumes for himself and his girlfriend, Heidi, so that they can draw special attention to their new relationship.

Other Selves

While Cartman is quite the cosplay extraordinaire, there are others like him in the South Park universe, such as an "evil" parallel version of him from another dimension, and the assimilated version of him taken into the Trapper Keeper - but these 'other selves' aren't the Cartman we know and love.

While at Fat Camp, Cartman hired a kid druggie to return to South Park in his place and sneak back sweets for him and the other fat campers.

The future is always uncertain and volatile, and most especially for Cartman, and while he has briefly met two different versions of himself from the future -- we'll never be sure if either, if any, is still accurate, as their presence earlier in the timescape has altered the present-day Cartman's path. Only time will tell if he ends up as a business executive, a mechanic, or just an older, fatter version of himself.

Affiliations

Cartman is a member of a wide variety of groups, clubs and teams across the town of South Park and it's history, and of course, has special outfits for many of them. His leadership has benefited many of these groups.

Sports

Residence

Since the very first episode, Cartman has lived in this house on 93345 Ave. de los Mexicanos with his mother and their pets ("Wing"). He spends most of his time on the living room couch watching the Terrance & Phillip Show or playing video games - usually with plenty of snacks, from Cheesy Poofs to cereal - or up in his bedroom sleeping or playing with his dolls. He also sometimes uses his expansive basement for more lavish games, like Lambs, or bigger projects, like playing Warcraft with his friends, housing a Junior Detective Agency, or just being the permanent home base for the super secret superhero league, Coon and Friends.

He has had a number of temporary residences with his family over single episodes, such as with Stan’s family during a fumigation at his house, with Token Black’s family after a fire caused by arson, but when Cartman tries to run away from home, he finds he has nowhere else to go. Child Protective Services briefly placed him with the Weatherheads’ family when he set up his mother’s arrest for drug possession... in hopes of being sent to Hawaii.

Despite these temporary residences, Cartman always ends up back at his old house next week.

Favorite Locations

There's lot of places in the Colorado area to offer any fourth grader the time of their life -- these are just some of Cartman's favorites in particular. It’s well-known that Cartman’s favorite fast food place is Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) on any occasion since he was six years old, and he’s developed a very specific dedication - and taste - for the Colonel’s chicken.

While favorite indoor amusement park is Super Phun Thyme, Cartman’s favorite place in the whole universe has to be Casa Bonita, which combines great, authentic Mexican cuisine with festive activities and games, and many of Cartman's most treasured memories are there. Just a few minutes at Casa Bonita is totally worth a trip to Juvenile Hall.

Another longtime dream of Cartman was always to have his own amusement park, a place where he'd never have to wait in any lines. A short while and one million dollars later, he briefly succeeded, with the revolutionary Cartmanland, but after lawsuits and the laws of market capitalism, he eventually was forced to sell the park back to it's original owner.

After being forced off of social media, Cartman begins spending a lot of time with Heidi Turner, who also left social media, at the park, the only place they can socialize freely after school, often on the park bench. When he offers to follow her, they get lunch together at McDonald's, and it becomes a staple of their relationship.

Behind The Scenes

Creation and Design

Cartman is based on "the garbage in everyone's souls" according to Trey, and he and Matt often assert that they use Cartman to voice their negative thoughts, making him one of their favorite characters on the show. He was initially based loosely on the character Archie Bunker from the hit show 'All in the Family', who was notably foul-mouthed and politically incorrect, but Matt and Trey thought in the political correct atmosphere of nineties America, such a character couldn't possibly exist... unless he was an eight-year-old boy who didn't seem to know any better. His name was allegedly borrowed from an acquaintance of the two by the name Matt Karpman.

Cartman’s voice has always been provided by series co-creator Trey Parker, and his accent, mannerisms and catchphrases have been developed throughout the show’s long run. Trey has cited the season 3 episode “The Red Badge of Gayness” as a highly influential episode in the evolution of Cartman’s voice, as it has lead to the adoption of elements of a southern accent. Although the boys' voices are digitally manipulated in Pro Tools to sound the pitch of a fourth grader, Trey has performed Cartman’s original voice in live-action on a handful of occasions, such as during a sequence in the movie BASEketball (which Stan and Kenny hated) and during an appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in 2011.

Trey has cited Cartman among his top three favorite characters, along with Butters Stotch and Randy Marsh, but particularly enjoys writing episodes such as “Casa Bonita” and “AWESOM-O” that rely on his relationship with Butters.

Character Development

During the first four seasons, Cartman was generally depicted as a genuinely ignorant, naive child who often did not seem aware of the things he was saying, seeming to imitate things he had heard elsewhere (“My mom says there’s a lot of black people in Africa.”) and illustrating a general lack of understanding of these adult concepts. His characterization was gradually shifted after the production of the season 5 episode “Scott Tenorman Must Die”, which played Cartman’s childish naivete against an older, sadistic boy named Scott Tenorman, who had swindled him out of $16.12. After a series of childish attempts to humiliate Scott are thwarted back upon him, the viewer expects a final such attempt to fail as focus shifts to Scott’s own conniving plan, however the expected plan turns out to be a ploy on Cartman’s part, and the viewer discovers Cartman’s retaliation is far more severe than could have possibly been anticipated: killing Scott’s parents, grounding them up into chili, and feeding them to him.

Since this instance, Cartman gradually became far more openly sadistic towards others, and has carried out similarly traumatic retributions against other characters, sometimes off-screen, and often calculating, and Cartman has frequently threatened to repeat the acting of making characters eat their parents. (“He’s not kidding, dude.”)

Below is a selection of kick-ass behind the scenes content, exclusively from South Park:

NPR Interview

Cartman conducted a special interview with Julie Rovner for NPR in April 2008 and answered the historical Proust Questionnaire, talking about things like his favorite color, who his personal hero is, and what he'd like to do as an adult. The interview was accompanied by a special article, "Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*%", exploring the character's evolution, impact and legacy on American popular culture, all promoting South Park's twelfth season. Check it out!

Check out this old-school storyboard from our archives, depicting the scene where Kyle and the boys try to make excuses so they can play more Okama Gamesphere. All boards used to be drawn individually by hand. Now, we do them all digitally.

"Parachute" Production Art

This is some old-school production art used while developing the parachute look for Towelie and the boys. The notes are there to give animators cues on which color textures to use while animating.

Character Art: Cartman in Bed

Video Games

Cartman is one of the playable characters in the game, first appearing as enemies show up at Stan's House first in the storyline. He, Stan Marsh and later others use snowballs to fight back waves of enemies. Cartman is a member of the same 'rocketeer' class as Token Black, Wendy Testaburger and Red, which offer low speed but average range and high power.

Special Ability - Cartman calls down a powerful airstrike causing explosions to occur around the play field.

Cartman and The Boys team up in a battle through space and time to retrieve their Xbox 360 hard drive, which has been stolen by Scott Tenorman in hopes of destroying it, causing the boys to lose all of their game progress.

Special Ability - Cartman can use his enormous belly to break through walls to access new areas.

Special Ability - The Coon's special ability is to climb up vertical walls...

Noble and mighty, the Grand Wizard King commands all human barbarians of Zaron! He has harnessed the magical power of farts and will lay waste to any enemy who crosses him. Such is the power of a Wizard and King. Cartman is the Grand Wizard of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep and a master of the arcane and the profane. Cartman wields tremendous magical power—his ass and mouth are both capable of devastating spells.

Cartman and his alter-ego, the The Coon are set to make a stunning return in the next all-new South Park video game, leading Coon and Friends from Cartman’s basement once more in a civil war against the Freedom Pals... but we don’t have all the details yet. Stay tuned!

Cartman is a powerful character in the mobile game, with Sheriff Cartman appearing early on as a playable character, with his A.W.E.S.O.M.-O and Grand Wizard King cameos becoming unlockable much later as cards.

Bonus Factoids

Cartman is first of the main boys to have his hair color revealed conclusively. He was first seen without his hat in “Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!”, revealing the light brown hair he has kept on the show ever since. He is also shown the most times without his hat on, being more easygoing than the other boys to show his hair.

His first name Eric is chiefly used by most adult characters, but is also used by Butters on almost all occasions, usually Jimmy and Heidi, and on rarer occasions Kyle, Kenny and Wendy, usually around adults.

Cartman weighed, by his own estimate, about ninety pounds in the third grade ("Weight Gain 4000").

Myths & Legends

During the season 16 episode "Jewpacabra", Cartman publicly converted to Judaism after years of criticizing Kyle and other Jewish characters... this stunning development was dropped later in the season, by "Insecurity", and he's been back to his old anti-semitic self ever since. Matt and Trey observe on the commentary, recorded later that year, that they "guess he isn't Jewish anymore."

The Cult of Cartman

It should come as little surprise that there are those who find Cartman a 'wunderkind' and wish to emulate him in their daily lives - or at least, it should come as little surprise that Cartman 'believes' there are people out there who feel this way. He has issued twelve commandments and so-called "life lessons" for his followers to adhere to if they wish to truly emulate his ways in their daily lives. These commandments were released as short introductions to twelve classic South Park episodes in The Cult of Cartman - Revelations DVD, released on October 7th, 2008 to promote the second half of the show's twelfth season.

"When somebody does you wrong, you must be prepared to retaliate a thousand fold. And pubic hair isn't something you buy, you have to grow it on your body when you get older." (Scott Tenorman Must Die)

"Never take a joke too far, no matter how funny it is. Hitler learned this lesson the hard way." (AWESOM-O)

"What awaits us all in Heaven is eternal bliss, divine rest, and ten thousand dollars in cash. And remember - we all die in 2012." (The Death of Eric Cartman)

"If you really hate something, use racial tolerance as an excuse to destroy it. Liberals are masters at this." (Cartoon Wars Part I)

"No matter who it hurts, do whatever you can to have a super fun time, all the time, because we all die in 2012." (Super Fun Time)

"The final and most important lesson... do not trust the Jews. Oh, and kids with red hair and freckles have no souls. And we all die in 2012." (Ginger Kids)

Iris Coloration

In earlier seasons, Ms. Cartman was occasionally depicted driving with glasses, such as in "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!". Her son appeared to have inherited this trait, and was diagnosed with an astigmatism according to Dr. Lott, and forced to wear stereotypical, dorky glasses as a result. He received a cornea transplant from a deceased Kenny, however, and his eyesight has been portrayed as correct ever since. ("The Succubus")

While some fans erroneously believe this means Cartman's eye color would have been altered for Kenny's blue eyes, cornea transplants do not actually affect the iris which controls eye color. This means Cartman's eye color, in the iris of the eye, would not change from their natural color... which to this day, is still unknown. The typical fan assumption has usually been brown.

Cartman’s Sexuality

More than any other character on the show, Cartman’s sexuality has been a topic of discussion and debate among fans for years... even on this very wiki page!

As covered in the Love Interests section (see above) multiple episodes of the show have implied an attraction between Cartman and female characters, but non-specific examples supporting a general attraction to women exist as well. He appears notably jealous and disappointed when the girls don't express an interest in him during the Stupid Spoiled Whore fad, was insecure about his possible placement on the Girls' list, exhibits insecurity around them about his rumored penis size, and exhibited an interest in many of the girls when they were photoshopped. While none of these incidents definitively proves a sexual attraction, they exhibit that, if nothing more, he values the female collective opinion of him on a subconscious level, and feels insecure about that opinion.

The show's eleventh season featured a number of episodes where this was a key plot point, setting off significant debate among fans. During a sleepover with Butters in "Cartman Sucks", he placed Butters' weiner in his mouth for a photograph, and later tried to photograph his weiner in Butters' mouth.... while it seems clear that this is supposed to be a prank, as Cartman only seems to turn to the latter option to “reverse gay polarity”, it was enough to trigger questions. Not long later, in "Le Petit Tourette", he simultaneously referenced fantasizing about a female student, Patty Nelson, as well as touching weiners with his cousin (could be 'Sexual Abuse', see above).

In the very same season, the “Imaginationland” trilogy famously highlighted a bet made between Cartman and Kyle about the existence of a Leprechaun, a seemingly impossible task... until Cartman proved it, and took Kyle to the U. S. Supreme Court, legally binding him to perform oral sex upon him. The ruling becomes a key plot point, and is reversed multiple times as the storyline creates new questions about the reality of fictional characters. Although described by Trey Parker as “nothing sexual” and connected to humiliation, an explanation added in the extended version of the film, the sixty-plus minutes of Cartman crossing the country to force Kyle to “suck his balls” at any cost caused many fans to question Cartman’s motivations with Kyle.

Since these instances, the case for Cartman's homosexuality has gradually evolved, with all but a few instances continuing to focus only on his relationship with Kyle - one of the most notably examples not already cited was in "Cartman Finds Love", where Cartman publicly feigned a homosexual relationship with Kyle in order to prevent him from developing a relationship with Nichole Daniels instead, due to his racist ideology that blacks belong together. As mentioned above (see 'Arch Rival') the possibility of Cartman being sexually attracted to Kyle (rather than romantically) has become significant enough to attract attention, transcending fan theories and awkward questions.

It is sometimes incorrectly assumed that episodes like “Freak Strike” and “W.T.F.” that feature Cartman dressed as or impersonating women, or instances of sexual abuse (see above) perpetrated by adult men are intended to ‘hint’ towards homosexuality, but none of these are strong evidence. Gender identity is not strictly tied to any sexuality or form of sexual attraction, nor is cross-dressing, and Cartman has obviously never invited the sexual abuse he has endured. None of these instances independently can alone confirm or imply an attraction to men. (Not that he himself realizes it, claiming he's "attracted to boys." to support his case for being transginger.)

As of “Tweek x Craig”, it is very possible to assume that Cartman is indeed attracted to men, as a figment of his own imagination, Cupid Cartman, or ‘Cupid Me’, expresses a homosexual attraction to him. This conflict progresses to Cartman visiting Ruffians, a local gay bar, to ‘talk’ to 'his friend’ Cupid Cartman (himself) about the situation... and eventually manifests in Cartman masturbating to a fantasy of Cupid Cartman forcing him into anal sex (despite his protests) during a massage date.
Of course, given that Cupid Cartman is in fact, a miniature version of himself, other fans state that this is another form of Cartman's extreme narcissism. After all, Cartman has been known to exaggerate things tenfold- and if he's willing to use mental gymnastics to feel good about himself, it isn't a stretch to consider that this is Cartman taking narcissism to a new level.

Nonetheless, Cartman continues to maintain some level of interest in women's sexuality as well, developing into a "soft-hearted feminist" by the twentieth season, where he declared that Amy Schumer's "my vagina" routine was the "funniest fucking thing", and began a romantic relationship with Heidi Turner after he mustered the courage to ask her if vaginas really have balls, a subject he has had trouble with on multipleoccasions. After seeing her vagina, Cartman discovered a newfound sense of purpose and inspiration, and he remained supportive of her in every endeavor until intervention from Butters Stotch convinced him that she did not love him as much as he loved her.

Therefore, the full body of evidence suggests Cartman is attracted to multiple genders, including men and women in some capacity, suggesting bisexuality or pansexuality, though he still seems to deny inclinations towards men at this point in his life and continues to use 'gay' as an offensive remark. Only time will tell if he'll ever be comfortable enough with himself to alter his sexual, romantic or gender identitfication.

Sound off your thoughts and theories about Cartman's sexual orientation, gender identity, true implications for Kyle, etc. right HERE in the official thread right here at South Park Studios!

Who IS Eric Cartman's Father?

In the history of the town of South Park, no question has provoked greater interest than the true identity of this little boy's father.

The show's first season finale, "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" promised to answer this question once and for all... when Cartman began missing school for tea parties with his dolls around Father's Day, Stan and Kyle decided to talk to Mr. Mackey about Cartman's problems. Discovering his mother has slept with most of the town at some point or another, the only way to expose the truth was to be an expensive genetics test at Dr. Alphonse Mephesto's ranch. After winning three thousand dollars in a contest, Stan and Kyle use their winnings to fund a test, and a range of recurring characters were presented as possible candidates.

When fans tuned in four weeks later for the shocking results... a Terrance and Phillip special aired instead, with the storyline being briefly mocked as Terrance and Phillip flip through channels, seemingly talking over the answer. A number of angry fans called South Park Studios in a rage, and Matt and Trey moved up the next episode, "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut". As he began to answer the question, Mephesto was shot by an unknown assailant, and Chef and the boys had to take him to Hell's Pass Hospital to recover in the midst of a horrific storm. Upon awakening at the end of the episode, Mephesto finally revealed Cartman's father to be... Liane Cartman, who was intersexual with male and female genitals - and yet, she was not his mother. Who was Eric Cartman's mother? A story for another day, it seemed. Matt suggested Oprah Winfrey could be one possibility.

Without a real father figure in his life, Cartman instead preferred to recall to his friends in "City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)" that his father had turned out to be legendary Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, a much-admired figure in South Park... though this did not stop his friends from teasing him about it on occasion.

Over a decade later, in "200" (or probably, about two years in South Park time) Cartman discovered that the town had lied to him, and that the results of the test had been tampered with to cover up the truth. Cartman's teenage nemesis Scott Tenorman reunited Cartman, his friends, mother, and his potential fathers to reveal the conspiracy... fearing a sex scandal could damage and scandalize the Denver Broncos in the middle of a strong season, Mephesto's brother (a devoted Broncos fan) shot him and the truth was covered up at the true father's behest to protect both the Broncos and Cartman. Tenorman revealed further, however, that his own father, whom Cartman himself had manipulated Bill Denkins into shooting a year earlier, had once played for the Denver Broncos, before Cartman had turned the Tenormans into chili to feed to their son in vengeance.

Cartman had killed his own father and fed him to his half-brother... even worse, Jack Tenorman was a Ginger, but as long as he was also a Denver Bronco, Cartman's going to be okay.

A little-known fact is Cartman *did* have a real father once - in the Unaired Pilot. The scene with his father and sister was a quick cutaway gag, and it was left on the cutting room floor when "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" hit the airwaves - it's not canon, folks!